Welcome to October in Birmingham: Leaves are falling, the air is getting just a little bit crisper, and the 3rd annual Design Week Birmingham is finally here.
Founded in 2013 by a collective of passionate folks within the Magic City’s creative community, Design Week Birmingham is seven days of education, discussion, and celebration around one common theme: Design Matters.
From guest lectures to film screenings, art installations, workshops, and more, community members have the unique opportunity for hands-on engagement with the many tenants of design. And with over 30 different events lined-up throughout the week, this year’s DWBHM is sure to have something for every right-brainer out there.
The coolest thing about DWBHM is that the entire event is one big side-hustle for talented designers all over town. It’s one of the only events in the city of its size that’s 100% volunteer run.
Yup, you read that right: every minute people spend working to make this week happen is on their own time. And we’re proud to claim we’ve got a few of those dedicated creatives on Team Big.
“It’s amazing to see how Design Week has its created a meaningful community that wasn’t there before,” said Shannon Harris, Senior Art Director here at Big and one of DWBHM’s founding members. “Since its inaugural year, we’ve seen designers of all disciplines come together like never before, and Birmingham is better for it.”
In addition to Harris, Big Digital Developer Dan Gavin hunkered down on nights and weekends to build this year’s event website.
A few of this year’s biggest features will include a free lecture from Alabama fashion designer Natalie Chanin, Rapid Fire powered by Pecha Kucha, and the 2nd Annual Bham FEAST, a community-action dinner where attendees vote to fund a public project.
And if you can’t make to any of those, we highly suggest you make plans to check out the free Saturday night closing party at a custom-created Design Week event space, a new addition to this year’s festivities.
“Through lighting design, architecture, landscape design, and graphic design, we’ve transformed a raw space utilizing all of our individual disciplines,” said Harris. “It’s definitely the coolest feature about this year’s event. And we can’t wait to party in it.”
For more information about Design Week Birmingham and to see the full list of this year’s events, check out http://dwbhm.com.